Kamden Johnson hopped into a van at Community Church Ministries in Mobile. Hours later, the 5-year-old’s body was found dumped in a driveway.
The God Loophole
How religious freedom for day cares can come at a high price for children
Posted inThe God Loophole
Alabama House passes bill to increase oversight of religious day cares
The Alabama House of Representatives resoundingly voted to increase oversight of unlicensed religious day cares, a big step for a state with the most sweeping religious exemption in the country.
Posted inAccountability, Day Care, Religion, Religion and Government, The God Loophole, U.S. Education
Child Care Safety Act would give state oversight of religious day cares
Alabama lawmakers introduced a landmark bill to abolish a longstanding law that exempts more than 900 religious day cares from state oversight.
Posted inAccountability, The God Loophole
Alabama woman who ran dangerous day cares appears to be out of business
For more than a decade, Deborah Stokes managed to operate a string of dangerous day cares around southern Alabama simply by claiming she ran a church. But no more.
Posted inAccountability, Day Care, Religion, Religion and Government, The God Loophole
Baptist college student says religious day cares should follow rules
A growing online petition calls for the end of “The God Loophole,” the patchwork of laws around the country that exempt faith-based day cares from licensing rules designed to protect children.
Posted inAccountability, Day Care, The God Loophole
Florida’s religious freedoms have let notorious day care owners thrive
Florida is one of 16 states that grants certain freedom from oversight to religious day cares.
Posted inReligion, The God Loophole
How a church avoided responsibility for its ties to a child molester
A man who ran an Alabama day care registered under a church’s name was convicted of sexual abuse. But the state Supreme Court later ruled that the church and day care weren’t connected.
Posted inDay Care, Religion, The God Loophole
Alabama bill to license religious child cares introduced
An Alabama lawmaker has introduced a bill to license the more than 900 religious day cares in the state that currently operate without almost no government oversight.
Posted inReligion, The God Loophole
Here’s how people are trying to protect kids at religious day cares
The federal government, several state legislatures and local health departments have decided that granting faith-based day cares too much freedom puts children at risk.
Posted inDay Care, Impact, Religion, The God Loophole
Bill to end religious exemption in Alabama to be introduced next week
For the first time in the state’s history, an Alabama lawmaker is introducing a bill to overturn the state’s religious exemption for faith-based day cares.